1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal-carbon composite supported catalyst for hydrogen production using co-evaporation and a method of preparing the same, and, more particularly, to a method of preparing a metal-carbon composite supported catalyst for hydrogen production and a metal-carbon composite supported catalyst prepared thereby, wherein the catalyst is configured such that a metal-carbon composite having a core-shell structure resulting from co-evaporation is supported on the surface of an oxide-based support coated with carbon, thereby maintaining superior durability without agglomeration even in a catalytic reaction at a high temperature.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the increasing demand for hydrogen as clean energy these days, a catalyst for hydrogen production, which is regarded as very important in terms of commercializing hydrogen as an energy source, is receiving great attention.
A catalyst is a material which controls the reaction rate and plays an important role in chemical processes, including hydrogen production, etc. Among catalyst materials for use in most chemical processes including hydrogen production, etc., noble metal catalysts such as platinum, gold, palladium, rhodium, etc. exhibit superior performance compared to other metal catalysts, but they are very expensive, which is undesirable. Also, the use of noble metal catalysts is limited because they are easily inactivated during the catalytic reaction. Such noble metal catalysts are mostly provided in the form of a heterogeneous catalyst using a support in order to increase the reactive surface area thereof, but may easily agglomerate during the reaction or may be frequently lost due to corrosion or the like during the reaction. Accordingly, thorough research into overcoming such problems is ongoing.
Korean Patent No. 10-0980590 discloses a nickel catalyst supported on a porous yttria stabilized zirconia support, a method of preparing the same and a method of producing hydrogen via autothermal reforming of ethanol using the catalyst. This patent, in which nickel is supported on a zirconia support prepared by hydrothermal polymerization following hydration and condensation using a sol-gel process, is different from the present invention which provides a metal-carbon composite supported catalyst for hydrogen production with high performance and high durability using a simple process such as co-evaporation.
Also, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2011-0139994 discloses a technique for preparing a lithium manganese oxide-carbon nano composite via mixing of ionic solutions. In order to synthesize the composite as in the above patent, multiple steps, including solution reaction, crystal growth, treatment with a strong acid or strong base to remove a template component, heat treatment for alloying, etc., should be performed, which is undesirable.